Times Online
January 08, 2006
Now try it without ABS, EBD, ESP, EBA ...
Many drivers are blithely unaware of the hi-tech safety devices fitted to modern cars that silently keep them from danger. We put four volunteers in a 1990 car to see what happens when you take them away. James Luckhurst and Emma Smith of The Sunday Times stood well back
Twenty-first century cars come with an armoury of safety systems, from ABS (antilock braking) to Sips (side impact protection system), ESP (electronic stability program) and the dangerous-sounding Whips (whiplash protection system). Nonetheless, fewer than 30% of those questioned in a recent survey by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders had heard of ABS, even though it is now standard on all new mass-produced cars. Only 5% were versed in the benefits of ESP. Drivers increasingly take for granted that their car will meet high standards of safety.
A campaign by European governments and competition between manufacturers have led to a steady increase in the number of gadgets and systems to warn drivers of dangers and prevent them losing control of their vehicles. Recent innovations include lane departure warning systems, blind spot protection, which issues a visual or audible warning when an object enters the driver’s blind spot, and brakes that are applied automatically if sensors tell the car it is in danger of colliding with an object ahead.
But as cars get better at keeping out of trouble some experts worry drivers are getting worse — cocooned from danger, unaware how fast they are going or how slippery the road is, and less aware of other vehicles. The Sunday Times decided to put four motorists to the test to see how they would cope in a car with no “active” safety features at all. With an expert sitting alongside them we would assess how well they reacted to hazards and difficult conditions without the unseen protection of a battery of electronic guardian angels.
Our guinea pigs were Jean Curran, 60, a social worker and Skoda Fabia driver from Wargrave, Berkshire; Ceri Jones, 57, a dentist and Volvo V70 owner from Cardiff; Simon Chester, 30, a Subaru Impreza owner and buyer for Pizza Express, from East Yorkshire; and Eleanor Ball, 30, a supply chain manager for Dixons and owner of a Honda S2000 sports car, who is also from East Yorkshire.
To test their skills we brought along a 15-year-old BMW 3-series devoid of every modern safety feature and met them at the Transport Research Laboratory in Crowthorne, Berkshire, to put them — and the cars — to the test. Here are the results.
TEST 1: BRAKING
Before ABS, drivers were taught the technique of “cadence braking” — applying and releasing pressure on the brake pedal to prevent the wheels from locking. Would our drivers be able to manage it? Graham Griffiths of Ultimate Car Control (
www.ultimatecarcontrol.com), an advanced driver training school based in Crowthorne, was our expert. He used traffic cones to simulate three lanes of a motorway, with one stationary vehicle in the middle lane. As the drivers travelled towards the obstacle at 50mph they had to imagine a car ahead had stopped suddenly and, on Griffiths’s command, they were to swerve into the left or right-hand lane, braking at the same time to avoid slamming into any other vehicle.
Each of our four drivers began by completing the test in the car they usually drive, all of which were fitted with ABS systems. Once they were familiar with the test we put them behind the wheel of the older BMW. First to take the challenge was Curran. She admitted she thought ABS was “something like an Asbo” and had no idea that it enabled her to stop under hard braking without the wheels locking.
She may not have known what ABS was but she missed it when it wasn’t there. Griffiths had added a little water to the surface to reduce grip and the results were predictable. The wheels locked and Curran could no longer steer the car out of danger. The BMW ploughed straight on into the cones, leaving a trail of rubber tyre marks.
The other drivers didn’t fare much better. Before the test Chester and Ball had confidently rated their driving ability as 9 out of 10 and 8 out of 10 respectively. But even these self-confessed petrolheads were unable to control their cars without the aid of ABS. Had this been a real-life situation on a busy motorway, they would have ploughed into other traffic and probably caused a multiple pile-up.
TEST 2: STEERING
This test was designed to show the effectiveness of a whole variety of innovative stability features. Ball’s Honda S2000, for example, comes with an aluminium x-bone frame, which links the wheels diagonally to increase rigidity, as well as torque-sensing limited slip differential (LSD), which will automatically reduce torque if it senses the car is about to skid.
Chester’s Impreza is four-wheel drive and also has LSD to make sure power is divided equally between each side of the vehicle and again stop skidding. Its yaw sensors prevent the car sliding from side to side and counteract over or understeer on sharp bends.
Jones’s V70 has the most advanced system. It comes with DSTC — a dynamic stability and traction control system — to ensure it maintains grip on the road and the driver remains in control, even on wet surfaces or around sharp bends. If one or both driven wheels start to spin, torque is reduced until they regain their grip. The system also increases stability around bends and reduces understeer when pulling out of them and counteracts skidding before it starts by constantly comparing the direction of the car with the steering wheel movements. If there is any tendency to slide, the brakes are instantly applied to one or more wheels as necessary to retain control.
For this test, Griffiths laid out a line of cones for a simple slalom. The drivers were told to drive as fast as they dared through the five cones, turn around and come back. In the new cars, all the drivers found the task relatively straightforward. The cars gripped the road as they weaved through the slalom.
But when trying to repeat the test in the old BMW the drivers all ran into trouble. They swung about wildly and Chester was soon heading into a 360-degree spin. The others just managed to keep control of the car but only by creeping round the cones at a snail’s pace. “The BMW was completely raw,” said a shaken Chester, after the test. “It was impossible to keep in line. It was like driving a bus.”
THE VERDICT
After four hours of driving, our volunteers were surprised at just how much they relied on modern safety systems and certainly left Crowthorne with no desire to return to the good old days of 1990.
Even allowing for the fact that the BMW’s technology was 15 years out of date Griffiths was shocked by our drivers’ lack of safety awareness. “This just goes to show that the boffins can come up with new safety ideas and the marketing men can sell them to buyers but the truth is that most drivers don’t understand them or how to drive to make the most of them,” he said.
“This test also showed how far car design has come. Modern cars not only have stability and traction control, they also have better tyres, better suspension and overall dynamics. Technology has moved on and drivers have been left behind.”
THE INITIALS THAT SPELL HI-TECH HELP
ABS (antilock braking system)
Stops the wheels locking under heavy braking, allowing the driver to retain control and prevent skidding. As the wheels begin to lock up, sensors release and reapply pressure at a rate of up to 12 times per second. Now standard on all new mass-produced cars
ACC (active/adaptive cruise control)
Maintains a safe distance between your car and the vehicle in front using a radar device in the front grille. Automatically brakes or slows the car down if it senses the car in front doing the same or increases speed up to a pre-set limit
AFL (adaptive forward lighting)
Headlamps that adjust with speed and steering angle to give a broader spread of light and greater night visibility in all road conditions
CBC (cornering brake control)
Makes the car easier to stop while cornering by applying different levels of brake pressure to each wheel
DDS (deflation detection system)
Sensors on each tyre valve detect loss of pressure, giving the driver an early warning if the car suffers from a puncture or if the tyre pressures are low
EBA (emergency brake assist)
Adds extra force to the brakes when it senses you are braking in an emergency to reduce stopping distances significantly
EBD (electronic brake force distribution)
Adjusts brake force distribution to maintain optimum braking on all wheels (compensating for weight transfer). Works in tandem with ABS and helps prevent the rear wheels locking
ESP (electronic stability program)
Helps prevent skidding by reducing engine power or braking an individual wheel to regain control if slip is detected
LKAS (lane-keeping assist system)
Honda’s system identifies the boundaries of the vehicle’s lane by processing images from a camera mounted behind the windscreen. It then provides the optimum steering torque to help keep the vehicle in the centre of the lane. Volvo is developing a similar system called “driver alert” that will issue a warning if it senses the driver drifting off course and will be introduced on some models later this year.
Rops (rollover protection system)
This Volvo system incorporates a range of safety measures designed to minimise the chance of rollover accidents and offer extra protection in the event of the car turning over. It includes airbags that stay inflated longer to allow for repeated rollovers and a reinforced steel roof and pillars to prevent crumpling
Sips (side impact protection system)
Introduced by Volvo in 1991, Sips is designed to absorb the force of a side-impact collision. Its features include impact-protection bars in the side doors and front seats that will move slightly sideways away from the impact
TCS (traction control system)
Progressively applies the brakes to a driven wheel that is losing grip, may also retard the throttle to reduce power until it matches the available grip. Helps to maintain grip on loose, wet or changing surfaces
UCL (understeer control logic)
A system that operates on the front wheels, closing the throttle and increasing brake pressure in situations where the nose of the car pushes wide through corners
"Pilots Without Maintainers are Just Pedestrians With Leather Jackets and Cool Sunglasses."
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